Tonight at 7 Bill Huddleston is going to guide us through our 13th tasting of the year. Yep–we’re a quarter of the way through our 52 wines (but since we did beer one week, we might have to double up on another occasion or hold a special tasting to make it 52). I’ve got beef tenderloin marinating and we’ll get the grill going in a couple of hours. See you all back here at 7. And remember: To participate, click on the live blogging box below.

Tonight Fredric Koeppel is our expert for our wine tasting. He’s chosen the  Gascon Malbec 2006 from Argentina, and he’s posted a recipe for chili-dusted pork chops on the blog. Sign on at 7 p.m. and enjoy this wine with us. Click on the “live blog” box in this post; that’s where you’ll make your comments. Here’s what Fredric has to say about the wine:

“Hi, readers, here’s some background on the wine we’re tasting tonight: Because so much of our exposure to malbec comes from wines made in Argentina, many American consumers assume that the grape is native to that country. Actually. malbec came to Argentina in 1852 from Bordeaux, where it had long been used in small quantities to soften and add fruit to cabernet sauvignon. The grape is also grown extensively around Cahors, southeast of Bordeaux. Malbec fell out of favor in Bordeaux in the 1950s, and its function was taken over by merlot. The grape is often found in California, again as a blending wine with cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Malbec took a real liking to Argentina, especially to the temperate climate of the Mendoza Valley; the wines can turn out too fat and jammy in warmer climates. Unfortunately, during the 1980s, a misguided government program resulted in the uprooting of most of the old malbec vineyards in Argentina.  Even at its best, malbec makes a wine a bit too rustic to be considered great, but, again, at its best, it produces deeply colored wines with dark, spicy flavors and vigorous tannins. The property was founded by Spanish immigrant Don Miguel Gascon in 1884. Since 1993, the estate has been owned by Nicolas Catena, another noted producer in Argentina. The wine is impoted to the United States by E&J Gallo.”

I didn’t put this in A la Carte because when it was scheduled to be at Restaurant Iris, it was sold out. But it’s moved and there’s space available: Thanks, Michael, for passing this on.

“The winemaker dinner with Ron Lachini on Monday March 24th has moved from Restaurant Iris to Roustica. The dinner will begin at 6:00 p.m. as previously mentioned.  Cost to attend is $60/per person plus tax & gratuity.  Ron Lachini himself will be in attendance & he has promised to bring along some of his small production Washington state wines. This is in addition to the biodynamically farmed pinot gris & pinot noirs that will be poured along with Chef Kevin Rains’ cuisine.” Call 726-6228.

As mentioned in A la Carte, there’s another Lachini dinner at Napa Cafe on Tuesday (Napa Cafe , Delta Wholesale and Lachini Vineyards from Oregon are hosting a four-course wine dinner at the restaurant on Tuesday at 7 p.m. $65; call 683-0441.) 

As many of you readers know, the wine for next week’s online tasting, which I will conduct, is the Gascon Malbec 2006, from Argentina’s Mendoza region. I bought it at Buster’s for $13.

I’m going to be cooking a terrific recipe for pork chops. This originally appeared in the January 2004 issue of Food & Wine (in case you obsessively hang on to old magazines) and also in one of that magazine’s occasional publications, “Fast,” and I would tell you what year that appeared except that we’ve used it so much that pages are falling out, including the title and copyright page. None of which matters because I’m going to provide the recipe here. LL and I have cooked this dish a thousand times, and the pork chops always come out moist and tender and flavorful. The whole process is simple and fast.

Chili-Dusted Pork Chops

1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
4 1/2-pound boneless pork loin chops
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Finely grated zest of one lime and its juice
3 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, mix the chili powder with the cumin, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the pork chops.
2. In a large overproof skillet, heat the oil. Add the chops and cook over high heat until browned, 1 minute per side. Add the garlic, lime zest, lime juice and cilantro and roast the chops in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. Transfer to plate and serve.

Note: This is supposed to serve four people, but LL and I use the same amount of rub and other ingredients for two pork chops. If you’re actually cooking four chops. I would double the amount of the others elements. And you don’t have to use boneless chops; we usually buy bone-in chops and they’re great. The chops need to be about an inch and a quarter thick.

So there it is. What could be easier?

I’m looking forward to the wine-tasting next Thursday.